Hello World Inking Blog Enty

Dopod 838pro..at last, a purrfect WM PDA!

Finally...my dream WM5 has arrived in the form of the Dopod 838pro! It's all that I ever wanted in a WM5..only thing missing's GPS...annoying thing is that it uses microSD...only available in 1G when I bought the 838pro..

My favourite coolies of the 838pro that makes it stand apart from the usual
WM PDAs are:

- thumb scrollwheel (love this, love this, love this!)
- great assortment of buttons, buttons everywhere!
- macro mode for the 2 MP camera...for those extra closeup shots!
- backlit keyboard..
- WCDMA Triband
- EDGE/GPRS/UMTSl


Specifications
OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0
Frequency: GSM Quadband (850/900/1800/1900)+WCDMA Triband (850/1900/2100)
Processor: Samsung 400MHz
Memory: 128MB ROM, 64MB RAM (persistent storage)
Size: 112.5 x 58 x 21.95 mm
Weight: 176 grams w/battery
Standby time: up to 220 hours
Talk time: up to 5 hours
Colour: Classic Black

Communications
Mobile data connectivity: EDGE/GPRS/UMTSl
Bluetooth: Yes, v2.0l
USB: Yes (Sync and charge)

Screen
Main: 2.8" 240x320 resolution (QVGA)
Colors: 65536 colors TFT screen (effective)

o2 atom - love it..hate it!

Yep, history would have it that I did jump on the bandwagon and purchased a o2 atom when it was first released in Oz. It was loved at first sight...nice shiny glossy black body with brushed aluminium buttons...really sexy! I also loved the form factor...slim and just the right size/weight/screen size, albeit a typical WM 320x240 resolution!

Things were going great until I turned it on...arrgh! The original first firmware was shockingly slow..and it took 3 firmware upgrades before it become useable.

Some specs..

Dimensions
• Approx. 58(W) x 102(L) x 18.5(T) mm
• Weight with battery: 140g

Platform
• Microsoft Windows Mobile™ 5.0
• Integrated personal digital assistance, tri-band EDGE phone, FM radio, high-resolution camera, Bluetooth, and Wireless LAN

Processor
• Intel PXA272 416MHz

Memory
• Flash ROM: 128MB in total
• RAM: 64MB

Display
• 2.7" TFT LCD display with touch panel
• 240 x 320 dots resolution
• Supports 262K colours (65,536 effective)

Other notable coolies were the FM radio.

I ended up selling it to a good friend's wife as I found that I couldn't live without a keyboard. I went back to the Nokia Communicator, patiently waiting for the arrival of a WM5 PDA that'll meet my needs. The waiting ended with the arrival of the Dopod 838pro...:)

Fujitsu Lifebook P1510D - encore pic!

Here's the P1510D being twisted in readiness to be transformed into a Tablet PC! :)

Fujitsu Lifebook P1510D

Here's my current Tablet PC..the 8.9", 1kg lifebook p1510. Love this unit...and bought a 6 cell extended battery (notice the protrusion) that give me enough juice for 7 hours of fun! Specifications wise.. fingerprint sensor, touch screen, 60G HDD, 512MB RAM, Pentium M 1.2G. Only downside...max res is only 1024x600...would love to have this a little higher. But I can safely say that this is the perfect sized Tablet PC for me..any smaller you'll be squinting (ie, my previous UMPC was the vaio U71p with a 5" screen)..any larger, it'll be too heavy!

Plantronics D640 vs Jabra JX10

Here's what the 2 look like head to head..against a AUD $1 coin!

Plantronics D640 BT headset.

As a big James Bond fan, I couldn't resist jumping at the opportunity of buying the Plantronics D640 when I thought I lost my Jabra JX10! Just check out the presentation and the various attachments for this little bewdy! The long attachments are a "on the go" charging unit that uses a normal AA battery; this clicks into the BT headset holster and provides on the move charging to the BT that extends its use to 15 hours talk time! The rest of the little attachments are for attaching to different mobile chargers like Nokia, Motorola, Siements, Sony Ericsson. Also comes with its own charger as well.

A nice unit..light, compact and talktime around 5-6 hours with standby around 240hrs. Oh..the headset holster vibrates when an incoming call receives..quite cool!

Only annoying thing is that the BT headset doesn't not sit secure in the holster...I managed to drop this one fateful night and lost it (like the Jabra!). 2 days later, I found it on the driveway..incredibly still working..fortunately, I don't think it rained that night but it seemed to survive the cold winter morning! I was also surprised I didn't run this over with the WRX for 2 days in a roll...so it's a bit of a lucky charm for me..:) I'll start using this once the Jabra breaks...as you are probably aware, I'm very good at breakng or losing BT headsets..:) Stayed tuned for a more definitive review of this my "lucky" BT later on.

Sadly, I haven't been using this since I found my JX10..

Aigo Intelligent Stick and MP3 player

2 months back, I was looking for a 2G USB storage for storing work related documents and good ole Ronnie happened to be in Singapore and bought me this wonderful 2G stick from Aigo. Check out how wafer thin this is in the picture..it's almost indestructible..waterproof, shock proof and I've been putting this in my wallet and sitting on it for months! Another nifty thing is that it comes with a Storage Manager s/w that allows you to create a non encrypted partition for general usage and also an encrypted partition for your sensitive data. It mounts up as 2 separate partitions; the encrypted partition prompts you to enter a password to get in. I actually bought 2...this 2G in snow white and a 1G in jet back (kinda like the white and black Nano pair?) ...no sooner did I show this to a workmate...I had to sell the 1G stick to him...such is the cool geek factor this unit commands..:)

Oh, I was crazy enough to also buy an accessory for this stick..a Aigo DAP . Just stick the stick into the DAP and voila..an MP3 player ! Also doubles up as a vanity mirror..

Netgear SC101 (HDD Toaster!)

My first impressions when I bought this was that it resembled a toaster! Oh well, I needed a nifty Network Storage device and settled for the SC101 because it allows me to slot in 2 IDE drives, attach to the network. Setting this up was simple and was totally in harmony with my Netgear wireless router..so no complaints there.

Time to buy a second IDE drive..about to blow my 320G Western Digital..:(

Sartoech USB HDD OTG

Here' a nifty 2.5" USB HDD enclosure I bought..Sarotech Cutie OTG (on the go)..had an in built battery pack that provides juice on the move..perfect for digital photographers who need to back up their memory cards whilst in the field.

Turn on the power, plug in a USB card reader and start backing up your data from memory stick to the HDD. Has a red/green light and buzzer to inform you of progress. Each backup will result in a new directory being created on the HDD..

Oh..and obviously also acts as a normal USB HDD of course....:)

Bought this wonderful 19" Widescreen Proview LCD flat screen...1440x900, 5ms response time..for AUD$300...bargain!

Jabra JX10

Here's the Jabra on it's throne, with a Australian $1 coin to give you a perspective of how tiny this little BT is.. nice design curves, thanks to Jacob Jensen!

iTech i35 vs Jabra JX10

My quest for all things small and Bluetooth has led to the purchase of these 2 little bewdies..the iTech i35 and the Jabra JX10.

The Jabra has become my latest BT headset..and by far the most expensive. Picked this up back in March whilst on honeymoon in HK. Great design..funky option ear loop and a kick ass designer stand (see next picture). Moderate usage of around 20 mins a day comfortably yields a charging cycle of 4 days. It's incredibly light at 10g and less than 4cm in length.
So far, it's preventing me from buying another headset..well almost! I though I lost the Jabra, so I bought a replacement Plantronics D640 discovery..then found the Jabra again..so now I have 2 BT headsets! Sigh...Stay tuned for another review on the Plantronics!

The iTech i35 is a brillant stereo BT headset...if you have A2DP profile that is..:) Works wonderfully on my Dopod 838pro. ..10m range (despite what the guide says about 1m range as a maximum) but only line of sight...go round a corner and the connection drops!

I ended up bartering this for a lawnmower..:))

My Favourite Podcast

Hi all!

Ever since I got my niftly little iPod Nano, I have been downloading and listening to podcasts as I'm getting to lazy to read these on the 'net.

My favourite podcasts have to be the KFI Techguy - Leo Laporte...Slashdot and TWIT. I use iPodder to download my podcasts.

Continuing on my fetish for all things small, here's my tiny travelling mouse, the Logitech MouseMan Traveller. Love the shiny brushed aluminium texture..lovely smooth operation!

mVox USB speakerphone

Some of you may remember from my previous posts that I owned the true gadget laptop, the palm sized Sony Vaio U71p. Love it to bits..but one thing that annoyed me was the absence of a microphone..which was almost a big must as the form factor allowed this baby to be used very conveniently as a skype-in device! I nearly shed a tear when I didn't find a microphone..which then led me on a quest to find the perfect after market microphone or speakerphone

Enter the mVox MV100, a USB speakerphone compatible with Skype and MSN, amongst other VOIP enable software!

It's truly plug and play...detects natively on XP as a USB audio device and Skype know about it! You can configure as speaker phone or just microphone (ie, sound will be output from your PC speakers). Very portable and effective noise cancellation due to its DSP processing.


Here's the lowdown..

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

• Full duplex speaker phone with 110dB peak volume
• Speaker: 2w peak, 40mm,4ohm, 500Hz to 5KHz
• 8KHz input sampling rate
• USB Audio
• 2.5mm headset jack
• Dimensions: 3.2 x 2.2 x 0.8 inches (8.1 x 5.5 x 2.0 cm)
• Weight: 1.5 ounces (42 grams)

Check it out at www.mvox.com

Fongster's verdict? Thumbs up!

Gadgets

iPod Nano 2G - my daily travelling companion

Funny thing is that I never really used to noticed iPodders with their distinctively different iPod headsets..until I owned an iPod Nano..:) Yep..couldn't resist this little baby and ended up with a 2G version. Again, thanks to Ronnie for getting this from Singapore where I saved a little $ off the Australian RRP

First impressions...niceeee....slim as Paris Hilton! Lots of playtime...used it everyday and only have to charge once a week. It charges from a properitary USB cable (yuk!)...no surprises being an Apple device! It charges in around 45 mins. It's pretty rich in functionality..does songs, pictures (although so small, it's not really that useful!), multi clock/alarm (alarm's pretty lame as there isn't any speakers so only useable through the headphones), PIM that syncs with Outlook calendar/contacts.

I've grown hooked on podcasts..so filled my Nano with technical geek podasts like Slashdot review and the KFI Techguy...2 of my fav podcasts currently.

Not really happy when less than a month later, the iPod Video is now available for sale...arrggh! Time to think about retiring the Nano and getting a 30G iPod Video..how can I justify that..esp since I bought the....:) Stayed tuned for the latest and greatest of my recent gadget purchases..:)

iPod Nano

Designer Mouse!

Good ole Ronnie picked up a Philippe Starck-designed Microsoft optical mouse for me from Singapore as a thank you for looking after his car, house, projects and 2x dogs...:) There's are review on Engaget..so I won't write too much on this..either than it's a sweet looking mouse and very smooth..

http://www.engadget.com/entry/3868766997708411/

Fongster's verdict..thumbs up!

Here's another pretty picture of the AivX player...very nicely constructed and of quality build..not a al cheapo at all! :)

Sarotech AIVX player - a multmedia wet dream

Been looking around for a USB HDD enclosure (2.5") as my old one's been giving me problems. Picked up this beautiful piece of technology from the famous casing enclosure specialist, Sarotech from Korea. Check out the interfaces baby!

Just download all you multimedia files, detach from PC, hook directly to TV and/or surround sound and play from HDD straight to TV with 5.1 quality sound and HDTV (if you have it!). Oh, did I also mention that it has an FM transmitter and can stream out MP3 to all your stereos FMs? The quality is really good..I muck around with wireless FM transmitters in the past with bad results (ie, hissing, static)..this one's got my tick of approval! Buy a universal car adapter and you can play 1000s of mp3 songs to your car's FM stereo..grreat for long trips! This is my fav gadget at the moment..

Ok..so I ended up going back to Sony Ericsson after giving up my Bluespoon BT headset! I bought yet another of this bewdies..it's now the HBH662 (formerly HBH660 which I have given to my bro-in-law. You won't believe this..I lost it on the same day I bought it! It must have fell out of my pocket whilst on a crowded train home. Am currently trying to claim it back via Goldcard insurance..sigh! I went and bought another HBH662 the next day..sad!

Here's a closeup picture of the Nextlink's Bluespoon AX headset. More info can be found at
http://blueheadsets.zoovy.com/product/BLUESPOON-AX2

Bluespoon AX BT headset...mighty mouse!

As most of you know, I have a fetish for all things small..esp BT headsets. When I heard that the world's lightest and smallest headset, the Nextlink's Bluespoon AX was out, I simply couldn't resist! I gave my beloved HBH660 to my bro-in-law and bought one.

First impressions? It's smalllll...:) Looks like a little black mouse with a "tail" that's actually the "spring" that actually keeps the headset steady when you wear it. I had a fun time trying to put it on for the first couple of times, but after that it was easy.

It charges using a conventional usb connector..nice touch! But doesn't come with a wall adapter though which means charging from a PC or laptop..but hey, so does the new iPod Nano! :)

It paired up without no problem-o with my 9300 (tested also with the o2 mini)..sounds quality was ok..a bit tinny (not as good as the HBH660). Battery life was great..almost 5 days b/w charges with a decent 3-4 hours talking. Takes around 45-60mins to fully charge.

Had a weird problem with static when using with my 9300. When I had the 9300 in my belt pouch, static was terrible but any other place was fine! Go figure...:) Maybe it's the leather in the pouch..:) Thanks to this problem,I ended up selling this to my colleauge who used it on his new Nokia 6810 with no problems..

Fongster's verdict?

Form factor? 9/10 (finally, a tiniest, lightest and least noticeable BT headset!)
Battery? 7.5/10
Accessories? 7/10 (no wall adapter)
Wank factor? 9/10 (yeahhhhh! My colleauges now call me Bond, James Bond after noticing this BT)

BTW, if interested in this, let me know as I know a local distributor for this BT headset.

What better place to start than with my new mobile "ride"..the Nokia Communicator 9300! Been an o2 xda mini for a good 4-5 months..Christina's been pestering me for a pda mobile and she has her eyes set on my mini..so gives me a perfect excuse to give this to her as a pressie and get a new phone! :) Tell you what..after owning the mini, nothing out there really suits my criteria in terms of multimedia..the mini rocks given its screensize, weight and form factor.

So I decided to forego owning a mobile for "fun" and started looking for a mobile "workhorse"; in my role as a project manager, I needed a mobile that fulfils these functions:

- Quick text input (therefore a sizeable keyboard)
- decent form factor (not a huge brick)
- Syncs natively with Lotus Notes PIM
- Recorder
- MP3

So settled for the 9300.

It's been a pretty good workhorse I must admit..syncs flawlessly (well almost all the time) with Notes..this is a must (the o2 failed miserably here). The keyboard's great...comfortably big and good tactile feel..so screen protector needed because there's no stylus use to ...:)

A bad thing is that distinct lack of cool software for Symbian 80 platform..was really disappointed at first but looking on the bright side, I slayed my o2 mini many, many times but have yet to do that to the 9300..heheh!

Another bad (irritating!) is no vibrate! What the...how can any pda mobile be without a mobile? The Nokia response..."vibrate will cause unncessary stress to the delicate circuitry"...hmm..not acceptable!

Oh, and no camera..but then, I don't miss this at all as I'm not a picture taker.

So the fongster's verdict?

Workhorse? 7/10
Fun factor? 6/10
Software? 3/10
Satisfaction overall? 7/10

Back from beyond..:)

I'm baaaaa-ck! As some of you may know, been busy preparing for my wedding early next year so haven't had the time to even update my blog. About a couple of months of sabbath, it's time to catchup on this rather neglected gadget blog of mine..:)

Sad to say, I have gone through a multitude of gadgets since my last post..such is a gadget-holic like me. Without further ado, let's begin..:)

Gadget Review - Stowaway BT Keyboard by ThinkOutSide

..and here's the happy family shot..my essentials as a modern day uRoadWarrior. The picture also shows the Stowaway keyboard closed..it takes 2-3 seconds to unfold..another 3-4 secs to reconnect to the mini..so you're in business in under 10 secs!

The Fongster's long awaited review..here it goes!

Pros
- Slim, compact and good quality. Everything is "tight" and snaps in/out in a very reassuring manner! It's almost classed as a gadget designed by Q for James Bond..it flicks open with a "fffschik"..press another button that goes click and unfold to reveal a glorious looking keyboard. :)
- Keyboard is very ergonomic. Standard key sizes..The feel of the key "bounce" is perfect for touch typist! But..check out the Cons below as well..:)
- PocketPC shortcuts..all work perfectly! Love to be able to do Ctrl-B and Ctrl-U just like the real deal..:)
- Quick release. No fumbling. A 3 step open and 3 step close procedure. 2-3 secs each.
- simple program (comes in cdrom for ppc and symbian) installation and "brainless" on the o2 xda mini
- pairs easily with o2 xda mini. Reconnects immediately upon next use.
- Great battery life (apparently!) 300 hours on 2 AAA batteries. Can't wait that long below writing this review..:)
- LED indicator for operational status.
- It works very well with windows XP (need SP2 which contains BT stack that provides HID profile). XP detects this as a HID device.
- Works well when other BT devices are in use. I was able to receive a call from my mobile BT headset and continue typing away with no loss of BT connection.

Cons
- expensive. You pay premium prices..:)
- For compactness, only 3 rows of keys..no dedicated number row. No big deal to me however.
- The rightmost key on the keyboard is the delete key. This can be a nuisance to touch typist like me who are used to "feeling" the last key thinking that it is a right arrow only to hit delete instead.
- Due to the light weightness of the keyboard..hitting Alt-tab can cause the keyboard to topple to one side! :) But acceptable..
- No Insert key.
- No track ball/nipple. Yep..I'm asking too much for such a keyboard..:)
- Linux fans will be somewhat complaining...|, {,}, & keys are accessed by pressing the Fn then corresponding keys...:(

The Fongster's verdict of the Stowaway BT keyboard? --> Thumbs UP!

Ok..here's the Stowaway keyboard with the o2 xda mini. Again, love the combination! The bluetooth connectivity b/w this pair is great..pair it once and the next time you open up the BT keyboard..give it 3-4 secs and it automatically reconnects. Only quirk is I'll have to repair if I use the BT keyboard on the u71p and then decide to switch back..oh well, small issue! :)

u71 and the Stowaway BT keyboard..together at last!

Here's a picture of my u71p with the Stowaway keyboard...all that is missing now is the Stowaway BT mouse..which I don't really need 'cause using my finger on the touch screen in place of the mouse is actually more ergonomic for me! :)

New Gadget! Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard

Yes..at long last, I finally took delivery of a gadget I have been yearning for a good year or so (been very costly when it was first released and couldn't find a decent US site to buy it from)...thanks to Mr Gadget, I am now a proud owner of the Think Outside Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard!

This is definitely my favourite gadget at the moment without the shadow of a doubt! I am able to use this on both my xda mini and my U71p..

I'll be writing my review soon as I'm currently testing it on both devices.